A wireless location system can use fixed wireless network access points (e.g., nodes) with known locations to determine the location of a mobile device(s) (e.g., location tag(s)) in an area (e.g., field) of interest, such as a building, refinery, or industrial plant, for example. In such a system, the accuracy of the determined location of the mobile device(s) may decrease with the distance from the mobile device(s) to its nearest access point (e.g., the further the mobile device(s) is away from its nearest access point, the less accurate its determined position may be).
Accordingly, increasing the number of access points in the wireless location system can increase the accuracy of the system (e.g., the more access points included in the system, the greater the accuracy of the system).
Increasing the number of access points in the wireless location system, however, can also increase the cost of the system (e.g., the more access points included in the system, the greater the cost of the system). Further, the wireless location system may have a target accuracy level associated therewith (e.g., the uncertainty of a determined location of a mobile device in the area of the system may not exceed a particular threshold, such as, for instance, 10 meters). Accordingly, access points should be placed in the wireless location system (e.g., the locations of the access points in the system should be selected) such that the target accuracy level of the system is met using the fewest number of access points as possible.
Some previous approaches for placing access points in a wireless location system include selecting the locations of the access points manually. However, selecting the locations of the access points manually can be time consuming, and/or may not provide the cheapest and/or most accurate wireless system possible.
Some previous approaches for placing access points in a wireless location system include selecting the locations of the access points according to a symmetrical (e.g., grid) pattern. However, selecting the locations of the access points according to a symmetrical pattern may be inflexible (e.g., may not account for the characteristics of the area of interest), and/or may not provide the cheapest and/or most accurate wireless system possible.